The Clash of Blades
by Tiberia14AD
Summary: Follow Libitina on her quest for revenge against the dread Lich King, where she meets the most unlikely person who saves her and joins her travels. Set in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. I only own Libitina and her companions. Places and other characters belong to Blizzard
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It was night and Libitina, A short but slender human, briskly walked up to Stormwind keep. She had just been summoned from her home in Old Town and had been told the King needed to see her at once. She strode up to the throne room to see King Varian Wrynn pacing and looking extremely frustrated. She bowed to him and said "King Varian, I am answering your summons"  
"We have a problem out in Northrend." The King said, immediately getting down to business. "The scourge refuses to take breath in their onslaught if our forces, I'm losing good men rapidly and word is that their main commander is practically laughing at us. This will NOT do. I need you to get to him and kill him. Then maybe the scourge will stop long enough to regroup." Libitina was silent for a moment processing the information just given to her.  
"Let me get this straight sir. You are asking me to go into the heart of Ice Crown, by passing hundreds of thousands of scourge troops and the monstrosities created by the mad man Arthas, by myself, take out one of the scourges main generals AND then get back out again?" She exasperated  
King Varian stopped pacing and turned to face her with a more caring look on his face. "Look Libitina. It's a very delicate mission and you are the best person for the job. I'm not ordering you to do this but I'm asking you as a fellow Alliance member, No… as a friend. Please, there is no one else I can trust."  
Libitina bit her lip in frustration. How could she say no to her king?  
Giving a great sigh she responded "When do I start?"


	2. Chapter 1: A new adventure

Chapter one.

The cold was indescribable; the wind was so sharp it felt like blades against her skin as the boat she was traveling upon pulled into the harbor. All Libitina knew was that she would have to get used to this for she was at the crown of the world, Northrend. Her quest for vengeance had pointed her in the direction of Ice Crown all her life but she never thought she would come to be in this land. She and a score to settle with Arthas Menethil, the fallen Prince of Lorderon but knew if she was to challenge him; she would need to be stronger. Much stronger. Shaking her head sadly at the thought, she followed the small crowd of raw recruits off the boat that had taken them from Stormwind, the capital city of the Humans and central hub of the Alliance, to Valgarde in the Howling Fjord. She glanced around the town, it was nothing new. The same fast paced setting that adorned most towns, same smells and sounds, same diversity of people most of which were adorned with some kind of armour. A voice caught her attention and drew her out of her thoughts.  
"All new men and women from Stormwind are to report to the inn at once to be signed in!" yelled an armed guard from atop a stack of boxes, pointing towards a large queue that led into a tall building. Sighing she gathered her pack from the pile of cargo being off loaded from the ships and made her way to the front of the queue, ignoring all the mumbled complains of the soldiers in line.  
"Name and rank, soldier." asked the administrator, without looking up from his book that he was ferociously writing in as she approached the desk.  
"Libitina Verity Harris, Rouge, Adventurer. Here on orders from King Varian himself." Libitina replied in the most business like tone she could muster. She handed over an envelope, a letter that had the commander of the outpost's name on it, as the administrator looked up. "This is for the head of the outpost. I will not be involved in any army business and this letter excuses me."  
Stunned the administrator took one look at the seal on the back of the envelope and said "very well miss. I shall see to it myself that the Vice Admiral gets this at once". He struck her name from the book on the table in front of him, gave a small smile to Libitina and looked to the man who she had pushed in front of, then called "Name and rank, soldier!" Evidently dismissing her. She rolled her eyes and headed out into the town, she would need supplies and repairs before any adventuring could be done.

Stretching out her back after rising on her rest spot somewhere near Westguard keep, Libitina glanced at her surroundings. 'Not a bad view' she thought as she looked out over the cliff towards Kamagua. The small island was surrounded by almost light blue ice burgs and the deep blue sea. She tore her eyes from the sight and rustled through her pack then triumphantly withdrew her map. If she was to get the experience she needed, she decided the best way was to go through the grizzly hills, into Dragonblight and up to the Wrathgate where she would help out in the battle against the dreaded scourge. Studying the map closer she planned her route. "If I head north then I can head straight for Amberpine lodge, since I don't fancy camping lots in this temperature" she mumbled to herself, wishing she had brought her trusty steed Harlow with her so she wouldn't have to walk. 'Come to think of it, I should have asked for one back in Valgarde.' She thought mentally scolding herself. She began heading towards the border of the howling fjord and Grizzly Hills trapped in her thoughts so she didn't notice it until it was too late. *whump* she bounced slightly off something warm and looked up to be faced with the hind quarters of what looked like to be a woolly stag. A now angry woolly stag. It snorted and wheeled round to face, pawing the ground with its hoof and Libitina instantly drew out her daggers. Having already lost the aspect of surprise she was already at a disadvantage. She eyed the beast carefully then, just as it charged her, she shadow stepped behind it and sliced its hind legs. As it fell to the ground the stag gave a cry of pure rage and she finished it off with a thrust of one of her daggers. She bent down to inspect the corpse, to see if there was anything she could use or sell, but froze as she heard a growl behind her. She whipped around ready to defend herself, but there was nothing in sight. Confused, she held her defensive pose and studied the surrounding area seeing if she could locate where the noise had come from but there was nothing in sight other than a few trees. Shrugging she stood and moved on towards her destination, keeping an eye out for stags which she swore would appear from thin air, how else would she have walked into one?

She reached Amberpine lodge just as the sun was setting and headed straight for the inn. The inn was comforting and warm, a nice respite from the hard, cold day's walk she just endured. Picking the sturdy wooden table nearest to the fire she sat down and started to mentally plan her task. She knew that the General resided in a camp somewhere near Corp'Rethar which lies in front of the Ice Crown citadel itself.

"I know that look well" Said the old gray-haired barman as he limped over with a plate of food and a cup of warm tea, which he placed in front of Libitina "Here eat this, you look like you have had a hard day" She was going to refuse until her stomach rumbled in protest "Thank you very much, but what look is it that you speak of?"

"The look of a seasoned traveller facing an enormous task." The barman replied with a knowing look

"Well you would be right in that" Libitina sighed "the task I face seems impossible to complete"

"Nothing is impossible my dear and don't you forget that. When I feel something is impossible I do a little research or I ask for help" the barman winked and turned to walk away "oh, it's on the house by the way." Gesturing to the food "Every adventurer who comes through those doors gets a free meal and a room for the night" and with that he hobbled off to converse with some other customers. With a small smile she tucked into her delicious meal, it warmed her to her very core and put her in a fantastic mood. She finished her meal, thanked the old man profusely and insisted on paying for her room, which he only accepted due to a playful threat of death in his sleep, then headed for her room. It was only a small room but there was a fire already dancing playfully in the fireplace and the bed had thick furs to keep the morning chill out. There was a large trunk which many other adventurers had carved their name, to which she too added her name, next she pulled off her armour piece by piece and then stacked the leathers neatly on a chair, placing one dagger under her pillow and one under the armour. She jumped in the bed and snuggled down to sleep.


	3. Chapter 2: Ice

Chapter two

_"No!" a female's voice screamed "Leave her alone! I won't let you take her". _

_"Where is she? I will not ask again, Sabrina Harris." A male voice threatened._

_"No Arthas. You cannot have her." A second male voice intervened. "Why do you want her? Why would you kill her? We were your friends Arthas! Where is your humanity?"_

_A cold humourless laugh echoed around the house, chilling the air as it reverberated off the walls._

_"Humanity?" Arthas questioned "Humanity is a weakness." And with that, a piecing scream sounded followed by a grunt. "Humanity." Arthas repeated angrily as he looked at man and wife crumpled on the floor. He spat on the man's corpse and stormed from the building. A while later a door slowly opened into the room and the sounds of small feet appeared as a child padded towards the two bodies lying on the floor_

_"Mamma? Pappa? The bad man has gone, you can get up now" She bent down to shake her mother when she did not respond "Mamma? Mamma wake up!" The child shook her mother as hard as she could but still no response, then it dawned on the little girl. Mamma was never waking up. _

_Shouts were heard as guards poured into the room but the child did not move. She did not struggle when a younger Varian Wrynn picked her up and took her way from her home. She did not speak for weeks until one day she approached Varian with the sentence _

_"Teach me how to fight"._

Libitina sat bolt right up in her bed, swinging out her dagger and sweating from fear. As she looked around her room for signs of danger she realised it had only been a dream. The fire had long died out and the first rays of morning where seeping through the window but the air was cold. "So much for my good mood" she said aloud, sighing and swinging her legs out from underneath the covers to get ready for the day's journey. She decided the previous night that she would get a gryphon to Star's Rest in Dragonblight then head to the Wyrmrest Temple, if she was here then she may as well do some sightseeing 'because' she justified to herself 'how often do you get a chance to see the place where the dragon aspects live?'

Within hours of her departure she touched ground at Star's Rest. She scrambled off the Gryphon as fast her body would let her, earning startled glares from the gryphon master.

"What?" Libitina challenged "The thing was trying to bloody kill me"

"I assure you ma'am the gryphon was not 'trying to bloody kill you', as you most delicately put it, it was merely doing its job" the gryphon master responded angrily leading the creature off to be fed. Grumbling Libitina brushed herself down and headed out of the camp, down the road towards Wyrmrest before she slaughtered the poor animal, she was not a fan of flying. Along the road however she noticed some ruins around a lake to the side of the road, from which came the same growl that she had heard back in the Howling Fjord. Curiosity getting the better of her she edged her way towards the lake and, ever weary of foes, she took a good look around. The sight was beautiful. The ruins spoke of a sad past, but the trees glistened with frost and the ice on the lake sparkled like diamonds. She made her way to a small island in the center of the lake just as snow started to fall. She reached out and touched the cold hard stone, wishing that it could speak and share its story. She marveled over the sight for a few more minutes, completely forgetting why she came into the clearing at all, soaking the added beauty of the snow, when suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Instantly she stealthy crept behind a corner and drew her daggers, scanning the area for possible danger then she spotted them. Two blue Dragonkin were patrolling the area. Libitina assessed the two targets; one was a caster of some sort, made obvious by the staff it was carrying and the cloth armour. The other was a warrior who wielded a long two handed blade. Libitina smiled. her first true fight in Northrend. She snuck around behind the warrior, took a deep breath, and attacked with great speed. Within seconds it was dead and Libitina had snuck back into the shadows before its companion even noticed anything had happened. The caster let out a cry of alarm realising that it was under attack and dropped into a defensive stance, wheeling around in all directions searching for its attacker. Libitina crept around towards its side but a loud crack sounded as she stepped on a twig. The caster wasted no time in sending a fireball straight in her direction. She dived out of the way only getting grazed on the arm by the flames and instantly rounded on her attacker. 'Well at least now I know it's a mage' she thought to herself as she ran at the caster, the mage panicked at the sight of this small but fierce human wielding very sharp daggers and ran out onto the lake with Libitina close behind.

Suddenly the ice gave a loud crack which caused both the Dragonkin and Libitina to immediately stop. Both were silent for what seemed like an age, neither daring to move. Another almighty crack sounded and the ice gave way underneath the weight of the Dragonkin and it plummeted into the icy depths of the lake, crying out as it hit the icy cold water.  
"Well, that saves me doing it" she thought aloud edging her way to the newly open hole. Happy that she could see no sign of the mage, she turned to walk away.

Her heart froze when the ice sounded another crack. She stood perfectly still. It gave another, then another. She ran. The sound the ice made was piercing through the silent air that had suddenly seemed to surround the lake as she ran as fast as she could. She thought of nothing but getting away from the giant crack which was gaining ever closer, closer, and closer. The ice gave way and she plunged into the dark frigid water. It was like knives being dug into her skin. Her lungs burned with the need for air. She kicked frantically to get to the surface but her heavy armour weighed her down. Her vision started to blur and her strength started to fade as she sank to the bottom of the lake. But just as she faded from consciousness she saw an image of a man and had the feeling of being pulled. Then everything was black.


End file.
